By TARA HETTINGER
Lying down on the floor between two teachers in Scribner Middle School’s gym as two skateboards geared up to jump over them caused a little anxiety for Russ Cook, the school’s gym teacher.
This attempt was also in front of the entire student body, which totaled nearly 800.
“I was like, ‘Is he going to make it?’ I’m glad I was in the middle,” Cook said after the trick.
The two skateboarders with Untitled Skateboards did clear the three teachers during their performance Thursday morning, causing students to cheer and roar with applause.
And even though there is a “no skateboarding” sign prominently posted next to the school’s front door, the group was invited to not only display their tricks that get the audience’s attention, but also their message — to stay in school, pursue your dreams and know that your decisions now can change your life.
“We’re tickled we got the opportunity for this show for students to hear the same important message to stay in school, work hard and do well,” Principal Rhonda Mull said, adding that the message is always reiterated in school.
The group was hired by Southeast Christian Church, Indiana campus, to perform there Thursday night, so they offered to come to the school free of charge for a shorter show that morning.
The group of three professional skateboarders showed off a variety of tricks, including a 360 flip and skating along a low rail.
Jed Heald, who started the group, is also one of the skaters. He told students a story about his friend in seventh-grade who made a series of bad decisions that involved drinking, stealing a car, running from the cops and ended up crashing — which killed him.
“I didn’t even know my friend drank before that,” Heald said.
Heald told students they all have choices every day.
“At any point you can say this isn’t my life, this isn’t who I am and you can start making better choices,” he said.
He also told students to pursue their dreams, saying that people doubted that he could make a career out of skateboarding.
“Bottom line is this: You can do whatever you want to do in this world,” Heald said, adding that he grew up on a farm in Maine and now travels and does what he loves for a living.
Students said they heard the message.
“It’s a very serious message. It makes me want to stay away from that kind of stuff, because no one wants to die in the seventh grade,” said seventh-grader Isaiah Hale, who also likes to skateboard.
“It’s good to hear different drug stories, because if they keep telling you not to do drugs, you’ll probably not do drugs,” 12-year-old Rachel Morris said.
Students also enjoyed the entertainment value.
“I thought it was pretty cool, because I’m a huge fan of skateboarding and I like to watch new tricks to see if I can learn some,” 12-year-old Alex Yates said.
Mull said that though the school doesn’t allow skateboarding on its property, students are allowed to store skateboards in their locker or the front office if they use that as a way to get to school. She said the have to carry it while on Scribner’s lot.
She also said this assembly will count as one of the four the school has each quarter during students’ remediation/enrichment period.
“We know it’s all about academic achievement here and we like to do something quarterly to reward kids when they are working hard,” she said.
